Identifying Root Causes

Healthcare quality improvement video series made available publicly by the Stanford Medicine Center for Improvement. To learn more visit smci.stanford.edu.

[@mikebaker724]

There is never 1 root cause. Notice how you begin by saying finding "the" root cause then you switch to talking about root causes. Every problem consists of a system of causes. There is nothing special about the 5th why. Problem solving is also rarely linear. Root causes are like a branch system.

[@stanfordmedicineimprovement]

Great comment. Agree that the 5th why may or may not be where you land. It's more about pushing to be willing to ask it multiple times.

[@DrJohnPollard]

No wonder the world is so messed up with videos like this.